


buried in broken dreams

by yegelsecaller



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst with a Happy Ending, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Fix-It, Post-Canon, Post-TRoS, Probably the same as all the other fix-its but I don't care because I'm hurting and need catharsis, Reylo - Freeform, Reylo fix-it, TRoS Spoilers, World Between Worlds, the ending we should have gotten
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-22
Updated: 2019-12-22
Packaged: 2021-02-26 04:20:35
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,614
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21907381
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yegelsecaller/pseuds/yegelsecaller
Summary: “I thought that after everything, we finally had a chance. But then you…you saved me, Ben. You saved me without a thought of what it would cost you. Why?”Ben looked up at her, faint amusement playing at his eyes. “You know why, cyar’ika. You’ve always known.”Rey paused, her hands lingering on his chest, almost as though she were afraid not to feel his heart beating under her hand. “Because you…” she paused, taking every inch of him in. “Because you love me.”
Relationships: Kylo Ren/Rey, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 24
Kudos: 347
Collections: TROS Reylo Fix-it Fics, The Rise of Skywalker: Fix-It Fic Edition





	buried in broken dreams

**Author's Note:**

> *** HERE BE 'THE RISE OF SKYWALKER' SPOILERS. PLEASE BE GUIDED ACCORDINGLY. ***
> 
> So, it's been three days since I saw The Rise of Skywalker, and like many of you, I'm still trying to make sense of what happened. I wrote this while crying (lots) and drinking wine, so please take it for the unbeta'd mess it probably is. Regardless, this is the ending I think we should have gotten. Hopefully this will begin to make things right. Comments and feedback are always much appreciated <3

_No, no, no, no, no,_ Ben thought as he fought to make his way to where Rey lay, unmoving amongst the wreckage of the Sith empire. _She can’t be gone._ His thoughts raced as he finally managed to pull himself to her side, checking her pulse for signs of life as he pulled her close to him.

Not even the faintest flutter of life moved beneath his hand.

His mind raced as he dragged her up into a sitting position, supporting her head with his hand as he did so. As he drew her to his chest, his heart shattered at the thought that she had sacrificed herself to save them all. _It couldn’t be. It just couldn’t._ As he held her, his mind wandered to when she had healed his wound after they had fought on the ruins of the Death Star. How had she done it? If he could only do the same for her…

For the first time in almost a decade, he allowed himself to revisit the training he had received at the Jedi Temple with Luke.

_Breathe._

_Just breathe._

He allowed himself to become one with the Force, each breath pulling him further out of his body, but closer to being able to transfer his life force to Rey.

Slowly, he felt himself begin to separate from his body. With each breath of life that he exhaled into her, he felt his own strength ebbing away like a fast-moving tide. But he didn’t care. Nothing was more important than ensuring that Rey lived. _Nothing._

Suddenly, he felt a sharp intake of breath and a hand finally, _finally_ rising to meet his. He let out a deep breath of relief. No matter the cost, he had saved her.

“Ben,” she whispered, a smile reaching her lips as she wrapped them around his name.

_Thank the Maker._

Despite feeling his strength spilling from him with every second that passed, Ben smiled. _He had done it. Rey would live._

As they continued to gaze at each other, Rey crashed her lips to his in a way that was _hungrier_ than he ever imagined their first kiss being. Because he had imagined it. He had imagined it every day since he had first met her as an angry spitfire trying to defy him. He chased the kiss, pulling her closer to him as he realized this might be the only chance he would ever have to kiss her. A wave of sadness washed over him, but he felt no regret at the choice he had made.

As she pulled away, his face broke into the kind of smile he hadn’t worn since he was a child. “Rey…” he whispered as he felt himself begin to lose consciousness. _No matter the cost. It had all been worth it._ As she began to fade, he fought to etch her face into his memory. This woman, this remarkable woman had seen the good in him when everyone else had seen a monster, and he would always love her for it.

_Goodbye,_ he thought as he drifted away. _We will meet again, in this life or the next._

_***_

“Ben? _Ben!”_ As Ben began to drift away, Rey felt panic begin to mount in her gut. For a moment, she had floated in a world between worlds, feeling at one with the force but also somehow incomplete. Until all of a sudden, she felt as though someone was breathing their life force into her, flooding her with healing energy. Somehow, Ben had learned how to heal using the Force. But he had been injured, brutally injured when he had done so, and Rey was afraid that he had sacrificed his own life to bring her back from the brink.

As she held her hand to his chest, she felt him begin to fade. “NO!” she screamed, desperately trying to think of a way to bring him back. She felt weak, so weak, but maybe…she closed her eyes and concentrated, trying to separate a small portion of her own life force to give back to him. It was almost as though he had decided to transfer all of his remaining life force to her to be certain she would survive, but he hadn’t needed to. They just needed enough energy to haul themselves to a medbay. Maybe she could give some of that life force back so that they could both survive.

She continued to breathe in and out, tears running down her face as she fought to push down the mounting panic that Ben was gone forever.

_Be with me._

As she connected to the living force around her, Rey was able to transfer just enough life force back to Ben that she felt him gasp and move beneath her hand. In turn, she felt herself grow weaker, and her surroundings began to waver. Resolute, she pulled herself to a standing position and gathered Ben in her arms as she struggled to pull him to his feet. He was barely conscious, and Rey still wasn’t sure he was going to make it. But she couldn’t give up on him. Not now that she had finally taken his hand. Her comm having been destroyed during the battle, Rey reached out with her feelings to try to alert someone to their presence.

_Please,_ she thought. _Please hear me._

  
Within minutes, Finn heard Rey’s plea through the force, and Lando had managed to pull the Falcon to their location to bring them to the medical frigate. Struggling under the weight of him, Rey collapsed as Dr. Kalonia’s aides pulled him away from her to wrestle him onto the gurney. She could feel the unease of the people around her as they realized who they were treating. “Please take care of him,” she begged. “You have no idea how much he sacrificed to save me. To save all of us.”

Dr. Kalonia simply nodded and began shouting orders as they hurried him towards the medbay. She felt her heart sink as she saw them hooking him up to blaring instruments and begin pulling his clothes off so they could get him into a bacta-tank. _He had to survive. He just had to._

“Please,” Rey whispered as she began to lose consciousness. “Please don’t leave me now.”

***

Ben drifted in a world between worlds, the Force twining around him like a glowing string. What was happening? He fought to remember what had transpired. As he floated between worlds, he began to hear the faint whisper of a woman’s voice tickling at his ears.

_Ben. It’s not your time. You have to go back._

Struggling to collect his thoughts, Ben shook his head. Where was he? Who was this woman?

The voice laughed softly.

_It’s me, Ben. Your grandmother._

“Padmé?” Ben whispered, afraid that speaking would somehow cause the kind voice to leave him.

_Yes, Ben. Ben, your story isn’t finished. She needs you more than either of you know._

Ben furrowed his brow. “But how? I gave what little life force I had left to save her. I’m…” he paused. “I’m dead, aren’t I?”

The voice sighed. _In a way, yes. You’re caught in the world between worlds. You could join your mother and father on the other side. But if you fight hard enough, you could still go back to Rey._

“How? How can I go back now?”

_They’re fighting to save you as we speak. You need to fight with them. Listen to the Force. It will help guide you back._

Ben swallowed, a feeling of _hope_ beginning to blossom in his chest. He hadn’t dared hope that he could both save her and survive, but now…he closed his eyes and began to meditate, something he hadn’t been able to do in years. Slowly, he felt the force begin to knit around him, and with a heavy thud to his chest, he began to feel pain, more pain than he had ever felt in his life.

_Push through it, Ben,_ the kind voice whispered. _They’re doing everything in their power to save you. Keep fighting._

Resolute, Ben continued to meditate, the pain slowly but surely dissipating. For her, he could weather the pain. For her, he could claw his way back from the brink of death. Gritting his teeth, he _pushed_ and slowly, ever so slowly, he felt himself being guided back into his body.

***

Rey sat next to Ben on the narrow hospital bed, looking down at him with tears in her eyes. It had been three days since Ben had sacrificed himself to save her, and three days that Dr. Kalonia and her staff had been fighting to bring him back. Finally, something had shifted the tide, and Ben had come back to her. She hadn’t left his side since they’d first allowed her to see him again, and now she gazed down at his chest slowly moving up and down, afraid to look away lest the movement stop again.

With a small movement, he shifted on the bed and looked up at her, then at his surroundings.

“Rey? Is this real? Where am I?”

Rey’s voice caught in her throat. “It’s real. You’re in the medbay.”

He reached out to hold her hand. “Are you ok? Rey, are you hurt?”  
  
Rey looked down at him in wonder. “Ben, I’m fine. Thanks to you, I’m…Ben I’m alive because of you. I thought I lost you,” her breath hitched as she struggled to relive the memory. “I thought that after everything, we finally had a chance. But then you…you saved me, Ben. You saved me without a thought of what it would cost you. Why?”

Ben looked up at her, faint amusement playing at his eyes. “You know why, cyar’ika. You’ve always known.”

Rey paused, her hands lingering on his chest, almost as though she were afraid not to feel his heart beating under her hand. “Because you…” she paused, taking every inch of him in. “Because you love me.”

Ben smiled. “I’ve always loved you. Rey, I’ve loved you since the first moment I laid eyes on you.”

  
Tears again welled in Rey’s eyes, the events of the past few days crashing down on her. “I love you too, Ben.”

With a grunt, Ben fought to pull himself into a seated position, gently moving Rey so that she straddled his hips. He lifted a hand to brush the tears from her cheek, gently, _oh so gently_ moving her hair aside as he stroked her face. “When I was…when I thought I was dying, I fought to memorize your face,” he whispered, lips brushing her cheek. “I would have sacrificed anything to save you.”  
  
“But you didn’t have to.” Rey’s voiced caught in her throat again. “Ben, you didn’t have to.”

He chuckled. “Well, I know that now. But in the moment, I was so scared to lose you that I transferred all of the life force I had left. I wanted…I wanted to be certain you’d live.”

A small sob broke its way from Rey’s throat. “Ben, I’ve never been as afraid as when I thought I’d lost you. Not even when I was facing Palpatine.”

“Rey, I’m here now. I’m here, and I’m real, and I’m not going anywhere. I promise I will never leave your side.”

Rey lifted her hand to pull his face to hers. Silently, she began to kiss his lips, his cheekbones, the creases next to his eyes. Her kisses were tender, almost as though she was afraid of breaking him. As she kissed her way around his face, he wrapped both arms around her and pulled her closer, gently nudging her lips apart with his tongue. He felt her gasp beneath him, and suddenly, her entire demeanor changed. She wrapped her hands around his hair and pulled him closer, her kisses becoming desperate and frantic. Ben responded by gently tugging her tunic over her head, and quickly moving to unwind her breast band.

“Ben,” Rey whispered, still running her fingers through his hair. “I need you. I need you _now._ When I thought we might never…” she trailed off, pulling his forehead to her own. “I…”

Ben soothingly pulled her into an embrace. “I know, cyar’ika. I felt it too.”

Still looking comfortingly into her eyes, Ben finished unwinding her breast band and lifted a large hand to cup her breast. Rey closed her eyes and exhaled deeply, pulling his head into her neck. He littered her neck with kisses as he brushed her nipple with his thumb, marvelling at how it pebbled beneath his touch.

“Ben,” she murmured into his hair. “I…I want to feel all of you.”  
  
She hovered over him, questioning. Slowly, he nodded, and as though he had ignited a fire within her, she began to tear at his hospital gown, hands roving over his chest as she fought to remove his clothes as quickly as possible. As she worked to divest him of his garments, he gently tugged her leggings past her hips. Still straddling him, Rey hungrily kissed him as he moved his hand to her centre. At the first touch of his thumb to her clit, Rey gasped and bucked her hips towards him. Ben grunted, the friction of her skin on his causing pleasure to coil in his abdomen. Spurred on by her obvious enthusiasm, Ben gently nudged a finger between her folds and crooked it slightly. Rey _moaned_ at the new sensation, continuing to buck her hips against him.

“You’re already so wet, sweetheart. So wet for me.”  
  
Rey moaned again, panting and tugging at his hair as she continued to kiss him with the same ferocity she had shown in battle. “Need you now, Ben. _Please.”_

Slowly, Ben guided himself to her entrance and she gently lowered herself onto him, a sharp gasp escaping from her throat at the initial pleasure-pain of it. Worried, Ben looked into her eyes with question, but Rey continued to lower herself until he was fully sheathed.

Ben groaned at the first gentle rock of her hips. He had imagined this moment, but he had never imagined it would feel like this. _Maker,_ she felt better than he had ever dreamed possible. He grunted as she started to move faster, almost as though she was scared that the moment would be snatched away from them as so many others had been.

“Ben,” she gasped as his hips bucked to meet her own. “Ben, it was always you. It’s always been you.”

“Rey. Cyar’ika, you’re perfect, _so perfect.”_

As they moved together, the medbay began to fade until it was just the two of them, their bond igniting the force around them. Both could feel the other’s pleasure through the bond, and as pleasure began to mount in Rey’s abdomen, so too did it mount in Ben’s. Ben pulled her as close to his chest as possible as he felt their mutual pleasure rising to a peak, and as they came together, the force practically _sang_ with pleasure.

Still breathing hard, Rey kissed Ben gently as they both came down from the high they had both wanted to chase for so long. As Rey gazed into Ben’s eyes, she knew there were still uncertainties. She knew that despite what he’d done to save her, the Resistance may never accept him as one of their own. But for now, he was alive, _wonderfully, beautifully, gloriously alive,_ and for this brief moment in time, nothing except the two of them mattered. No matter what came to pass, they would have each other. And that was more than she had ever dared to hope for.


End file.
